“And unlike concrete, with helical screw piles, we aren’t
required to bring in wheeled equipment to get the job done,”
said Luu. “If needed, we could do all of our work on tracked
equipment which – in incredibly muddy and rainy weather
like we faced – is significantly more effective than other
methodologies and allows us to keep going.”
In the places where Roterra was operating on the manmade
berm, it was considered to be a no-risk zone, which
meant that there was little-to-no risk as it related to any
environmental impacts. However, as the company proceeded
west or east down the line, environmental assessments conducted
by Manitoba Hydro identified the presence of both
low- and high-risk zones along the project’s path. Therefore,
wherever Roterra crews were required to enter or exit higherrisk
zones, all of their equipment needed to be maintained at
a high level of cleanliness.
“This also pertained to anyone who might be walking in
and out on foot; we needed to make sure that there weren’t
any invasive seeds or foreign debris coming along with them,”
said Abolghasemi. “For the highest-risk zones, we were
required to have wash trucks on hand so that we wouldn’t
be transporting anything hazardous from one location
to another.”
The right-of-way for the self-supporting towers proved to
be a safe area for the foundation work being done by Roterra.
A safe working platform – such as rig matting – was used in
select locations to allow rig access up steep hills. The company
also installed rig mat bridges across aqueducts to
GREAT CANADIAN PROJECTS
“We are able to self-perform the
engineer, manufacture, supply
and install of helical screw piles
of large scale and high volume.”
– Garrett Axani, Roterra Piling Ltd.
ensure that they were not excessively damaging the right-ofway
or putting workers in any danger.
Maintaining a high level of workplace safety has always
been a key value for Roterra, and the company works closely
with its clients to ensure that everybody who comes on site is
on-boarded safely. Safety orientations ensure that everyone
is fully aware of the work that is going on around them, as
well as the risks associated with that work.
“Safety is paramount at Roterra and is the thing that we
prioritize over all else,” said Axani. “We are very proud of the
work being done by our team and the care that they take to
ensure that they are capable and comfortable in doing any of
the tasks that they are required to do.”
The anticipated in-service for the MMTP is June 2020.
PILING CANADA 47
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